Closing the Circle
by Mr. Peabody Hawke
Summary: [Patrick Suskind's Perfume] Grenouille left a rather distinctive mark on everyone who deigned to take him under their upturned wing, and Antoine Richis was not the sort of man to be excluded.


_Eva Kasumi 09/28/05, posted 08/06/06  
Characters, etc, copyright to Patrick Süskind  
IB World Lit: only class I've ever taken where I was told to write fanfiction. XD And for a spectacular book, too. This is a 790 word additional scene, intended to match the tone and style of the original author and complete something the novel left somewhat unfinished - this purposeis explained further in the Statement of Intent (ie: essay, which is really only about 500 words and can be found at splatterdrops dot livejournal dot com), which you don't need to read but might make things a lot clearer if you haven't read the book (which, again, you don't... really... have to haveread. Except that it's awesome.).  
In short, this is me killing off what few characters Süskind bothered to leave alive, calling it literature, and getting a grade on it.  
A six, if you must know._

**Closing the Circle**

About the time that Grenouille was making his way through the remnants of the night's excitement, Antoine Richis had just awoken and was stalking about the house, happily giving orders for tailors to be summoned, horses groomed, pastries made, all for the pleasure of his new son, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Out of the direct influence of Grenouille's infatuating essence of Laure, his mind still imbued with but no longer clouded by love, Richis was better able to think and immediately began planning for the exceptional futures of himself and his son. He recognized that Grenouille was not young; or, at least, he was of an age to be married and even, with a bit of instruction, take over the estate; but though he had not the youth of body, he retained the innocence of mind, which Richis dearly felt. Loath though he was to part with his beloved son – just as he had with Laure – Richis nevertheless began writing immediately, reestablishing acquaintances with noblemen whose daughters were of marriageable age and who had debts beyond any hope of repayment. Richis could establish a line here in Grasse and, given Grenouille's acquiescent nature, raise the grandchildren to his own satisfaction. Or, with Grenouille managing the business, he could pursue his previous goal of seeking a wife in court and siring a line there. Either way, he decided, the prospects were pleasing.

At seven he rose and went to wake his son. When he reached the bedroom door he knew, without even opening it, that Grenouille was gone, for the last traces of the perfume had vanished. A cold chill settled over his heart, and he flung open the door and confirmed his fears, feeling as though he had lost Laure a second time. Foul play was involved, surely! Grenouille had been kidnapped, abducted, to be held for ransom, nay, murdered, to befall the same fate as his sister! Richis flew from the room, summoning servants, footmen, butlers left and right, sending out search parties to Grenoble, to Cabris, to as far out as La Napoule, as though some cruel irony would lead him to lose both daughter and son in the same town. The police were alerted, but the account they were given was of a man who could never be recognized, for it consisted of 'beautiful' and 'affectionate' but contained no concrete description at all. When by noon the search parties had turned up no results, Richis resolved to track Grenouille and his captors down himself, for his mind held no doubt that Grenouille had been forced to depart against his will.

He departed from Grasse with only two attendants, choosing speed over comfort. They reached the crossroads near Saint-Vallier, and Richis, assured of the cruel mind of his enemy, turned towards La Napoule. Traveling the direct road, they reached the town in a matter of hours, and Richis proceeded directly to the inn. Grenouille was not there, nor was anyone who might be concealing his whereabouts; there hadn't been anyone like that for several weeks, said the innkeeper. Flustered, Richis exited and began the return to Grasse, feeling less confident by the hour.

Halfway along the road he was met by a messenger, who claimed to have come on behalf of Baron de Bouyon – whose son Laure was to have married – and had been directed along this route after checking at the mansion in Grasse. His message: the Baron sent his regards, but was most displeased at Richis' carelessness in dealing with the recent events that subsequently lost him his daughter; for the result was that his son was now condemned for such a disastrous engagement and the Baron ostracized for his bad judgment in fraternizing with bourgeoisie. Richis, enraged at such a pompous display at a time when it was most ill-appreciated, demanded whether the Baron knew that it was far from an unfortunate situation, for he had regained Laure in his new son Grenouille; whereupon the messenger replied yes, produced a pistol, and shot Richis three times, each with very bad aim and the final shot rupturing his lung only by luck. Richis, for his part, was so surprised that he managed to survive for several hours afterwards, simply on the strength of denial alone. The messenger promptly fled, leaving Richis in the care of his attendants, who, after a heated debate about how to deal with the situation, tied Richis onto his horse and returned him to Grasse, where he died before they even got him into the house. As he had no surviving relations, the estate and holdings were divided amongst his primary staff, with generous amalgamations by the government. Within a few years, the name Richis was all but entirely forgotten.


End file.
